Letter to the editor: Wheelabrator not a good neighbor to residents of Saugus, Revere and Lynn

Thursday

Aug 22, 2019 at 8:00 AM

To the editor:

At the Aug. 5 Board of Health meeting at Town Hall which was attended by many concerned citizens of Saugus, Revere and Lynn as to the excessive noise that was emanating from the incinerator otherwise known as Wheelabrator, a number of valid charges were leveled against them attesting to that fact.

This noise was due to the venting of steam to the atmosphere during retrofits to one of their turbines. After speaking that night, I submitted a chronological list going back to 2003 as to the ongoing difficulties that Wheelabrator has given to its neighbors (this list can go back even further to their day one arrival in the Rumney Marsh) to Board of Health Chairman Bill Heffernan, which I felt reaffirms my contention that despite their claims - Wheelabrator has NOT been and continues NOT to be a good neighbor to the citizens of Saugus, Revere and Lynn!

I mentioned to the members of the Saugus Board of Health that evening as to how they have "crossed swords" with the folks at Wheelabrator before and at this writing Wheelabrator has unsheathed their sword against them and "lawyered up" to contest the fact that they did violate the peace of their neighbors with this steam venting and as such are attempting to avoid any fines or penalties that the Board of Health may invoke here!

The temerity of Wheelabrator to contest this is more than astounding, especially in light of the fact that their vice president of environmental health & safety apologized at that meeting for that very noise and disturbance to the neighbors that live near this incinerator!

In the final analysis, this incinerator is well past its viable shelf life and a definitive site assignment needs to be done soon before something seriously dangerous occurs over there!

Wheelabrator has never been a good neighbor to Saugus, Revere or Lynn, and apparently in light of this most blatant attempt to avoid paying damages for this latest intrusion to the well being of their neighbors this narrative continues!